SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) will hold a mandatory vendor conference Thursday, June 27 for vendors interested in submitting bids for reconstruction and operations of facilities at the Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area near Rend Lake at Whittington. The conference, which will begin at 11:00 a.m., will be held at the conference center building at Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area located at 11712 East Windy Lane, Whittington, IL, 62897.

IDNR staff will be on hand to answer questions regarding the agency’s recently issued request for proposal, as well as options and incentives available for interested vendors.

“If there’s even a small chance that vendors may want to submit a proposal for facilities at Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area, it’s required that they attend this conference,” said Connie Waggoner, assistant director, Office of Realty and Capital Planning, IDNR. “Proposals received from vendors who did not attend the vendor conference will not be opened or considered. More importantly, this request for proposal is quite a bit different from most requests issued by the department, so it’s a good opportunity to get more information and have questions answered.”

The request for proposal, which was issued June 12, allows for one vendor or multiple vendors to take on different areas of the state recreation area instead of requiring one vendor to manage all facilities. Additional cash incentives also are available.

“We’ve worked with the state’s procurement office to allow vendors to make a proposal on specific components of the facilities at Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area, instead of requiring one vendor to take on everything,” Waggoner said. “Maybe a particular vendor wants to manage only the cabins or the conference center while another vendor is better suited to manage the restaurant. If that’s that case, we’re opening up that option.”

Additional details, and the full request for proposal, may be found on the state’s e-procurement site at https://www.bidbuy.illinois.gov/bso/external/bidDetail.sdo?docId=19-422DNR-REALT-B-7613&external=true&parentUrl=bid.

For additional information about the request for proposal, or questions about the vendor conference, contact Melissa Orrill, assistant agency procurement officer, IDNR, at 217-782-5695 or melissa.orrill@illinois.gov.

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